Company behind global IT outage last year to cut 5% jobs, bets on AI for efficiency

CrowdStrike - the cybersecurity company that caused a global IT outage last year - has confirmed its plans to cut 5% of its workforce, in part due to its AI efficiency efforts. The company said it would lay off around 500 employees as part of recent global redundancies, but also said it planned to hire in key strategic areas by the fiscal year ending 31 January 2026.

In a stock market filing in the US, CrowdStrike said, “We’re operating in a market and technology inflection point, with AI reshaping every industry, accelerating threats, and evolving customer needs.”

“AI flattens our hiring curve, and helps us innovate from idea to product faster. It streamlines go-to-market, improves customer outcomes, and drives efficiencies across both the front and back office. AI is a force multiplier throughout the business.” the company added. 

Talking specifically abot the layoffs, CrowdStrike said it plans to “evolve its operations to yield greater efficiencies as the Company continues to scale its business with focus and discipline to meet its goal of $10 billion in ending ARR.”

“The Plan is expected to result in a reduction of roles representing approximately 500 positions or 5% of the Company’s global workforce. CrowdStrike expects to continue to hire in key strategic areas throughout its fiscal year ending January 31, 2026.” it added.

CrowdStrike said the job cuts could cost the company between $36 billion and $53 billion. It also announced a $1 billion revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2025, with a loss of $92 million.

The company is best known for rolling out a faulty security update last year that caused more than 8.5 million Windows machines around the world to crash and display a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error. The faulty update caused flights to be grounded, broadcasts to go down, payment systems to struggle, and even emergency call centers to be disrupted.